A Diamond in the Rough
by ossella
Summary: Her face was bare, with no mask to conceal herself. Her name was Gem. Original Character story, rated T.
1. Encounter

Washington D.C

March 16 23:16 EDT

The cool march air swirled around, causing Gem to catch a chill, as her bare shoulders began to blossom with goose bumps. She was wearing a bedazzled corset top, full of gems colored with gold and maroon shades, that glittered in the moonlight. She then had on black, leather shorts that cut off at her mid-thigh, followed by knee high black heeled boots, that had a tiny gold buckle on each ankle. Her short, dirty blonde hair went to her earlobes, and her face was bare, with no mask to conceal herself. Her name was Gem. She was a vigilante, and she did not take orders...from anyone.

She was currently outside of Cadmus labs, the most safeguarded and heavily armed building in the entire D.C area. Cadmus had a veil hidden around itself, and had been one of the most sought out conspiracies in the country. Even the Justice League could not get any information on what was going on inside of Cadmus. But Gem was not in the Justice League, and she had her own means of trying to get inside.

Her information from various conspiracy theory sites claimed that Cadmus had no on the grid electricity, which was the first thing to catch Gem's eye. Second, was that there was barely anyone leaving or going into the building, which also raised another red flag. Creeping from behind a wall, Gem scanned the building. Four windows on the side, no lights, one security camera, no guards. Gem scoffed. For something as high profile as Cadmus, they weren't doing much about protecting their little secrets. She attached herself to the shadow of the wall, and slid along the wall until she had positioned herself underneath the security camera. She then unhooked her harpoon gun from her belt, and aimed right for the camera's lens. Then with one hit from the trigger, the harpoon sliced right through the lense, making the security camera de-activated. Gem then put the harpoon gun carefully back onto her belt, and took out the next weapon, her grappling gun. She moved towards the nearest window, and fired the grappling gun, and the hook attached itself to the rooftop.

Gem then was pulled up towards the top of the building, before she began to slow down near the window. While holding on to the gun, Gem took out the harpoon again, and fired at the window. The glass shattered, and as Gem tried to shield her eyes, she dropped the harpoon, and it fell and landed on the pavement below with a heavy thud. Gem looked down at the gun, which was now about twenty feet below her. She then looked away and gently swung herself into the building, where she landed in one of Cadmus' offices. She looked at the clock on the wall, with the time now reading that it was midnight. Gem quickly scanned around the rooms, seeing cabinet after cabinet, and files laying around on the desks, all of them not even sealed or protected. Gem grinned, as she began to get to work.

Gem scanned her way through the files in the cabinets, on the tables, and in various other rooms, but could find nothing suspicious. She then seated herself at a computer, turned it on, and searched through the files, still turning up nothing. She then took out a flash drive from her back pocket, and inserted it in. On the flash drive. were various folders, with one being exclusively for Cadmus. And in that Cadmus file, contained a computer hacking virus. Gem grinned as she clicked on the file, dragged it to the desktop, and inserted the code for the virus to load.

In a matter of seconds the virus commenced, and thousands of once hidden files were being accessed. Words flashed and danced along the screen, such as "G-Nome", "Superman", "DNA", G-Troll", and one file's name appearing as "Kr". Gem specifically clicked on the Project Kr file, and in moments, the file opened to reveal a project summary. It appeared that "Project Kr" was to create an embryo mixed with "G-nome" DNA and the DNA from a Kryptonian. The embryo would then clone and form into a weapon to be used against Superman, or to replace Superman. Gem immediately dragged the file onto her flashdrive. She was sure that she had enough of what she needed, and could finally leave Cadmus.

While gliding down the side of Cadmus, Gem's mind was buzzing around Project Kr. According to the files, the project had just commenced, with the embryo now starting to grow, and would reach a developmental stage in sixteen weeks, with the embryo growing into a teenage male. Gem wondered how Cadmus could even create a clone in a mere sixteen weeks, but then she had already heard of other impossible scientific events. As she turned the corner back to her motorcycle, a shadow appeared. Gem stopped in her tracks, and assumed a fighting position. But the figure did not engage in a fight, but just merely stood in place, staring at Gem.

"You have violated and trespassed private files and property" the shadow uttered, slowly stepping out of the darkness. Gem rolled her eyes, "Yes, I already know what I have done, genius". The figure soon was absorbed with light, revealing the figure to be none other than the Dark Knight himself, Batman. Gem's eyes widened and she took a step back, clutching her pocket with her precious flash drive.

"What exactly were you investigating, Miss..." he questioned, as he looked to Gem's side, seeing her clutch her pocket. "The name is Gem, and for your information, I was investigating Cadmus' energy consumption, because as I'm sure you know, they have no power grid records, which is very suspicious" Gem said, while holding her stance, in case Batman would figure out and try to steal away her flashdrive.

"I see...Did those internet conspiracy sites hire you for this?" he inquired, as Gem let out a small laugh. "Those freaks? No, I did this all by myself, I don't follow orders". Tension filled the air, and Gem could not read the expression or thoughts from the Dark Knight's face.

"Very well then...and as for that flashdrive in your pocket, it only contains the information about the energy, correct?" he asked, as Gem's heart skipped a beat. Could she lie to Batman? Or would he figure her out? More importantly, should she tell Batman? After all, this "Project Kr" did involve Superman, who was part of the Justice League. Gem held herself, and coolly replied, "Yes, only about their power source, nothing else". Batman nodded, and turned on his heels, ready to go back into the shadows.

Gem breathed a sigh of relief, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and became face to face with Batman, who stared at her directly in the eye, and said "This is a warning, Gem. The Justice League, and more personally, I, will be watching you" he uttered, as he turned away and walked into the shadows. Gem was stunned, but had now accomplished two of her goals of that night.

One, she obtained Cadmus' information about their secret project, and two, she had allured the interest of the Justice League, and Batman himself. But with that recognition, meant that she was now going to have to be more careful and more elusive than ever about the information she knew about Cadmus.

And even as she rolled through the night on her motorcycle, she could not get the Dark Knight's glare out of her mind, or his almost threatening words.


	2. Three Months Later

Washington D.C

July 4 14:00 EDT

The walkway to the Hall of Justice was crowded with spectators of all ages. Some sporting their Justice League shirts with various logos of their heroes, with one of the most popular being Batman. Even after three months since her encounter with the Dark Knight, Gem has been paranoid about that name. But for now, she was just a spectator, fully clad in her civilian wear, which was a red and navy blue dress, with black ankle boots.

Today was the induction ceremony of the Justice League's sidekicks- Robin, Aqualad, Kidflash, and Speedy. But the induction or the possible sighting of Batman was not why Gem was in the capital again. It was Project Kr, Cadmus' experiment that she had found out about three months before. And today, would mark the sixteen weeks of progress, in which the embryo would now be a teenage clone of basically, Superman. As she stood behind the velvet rope, she gazed at the heroes walking down the national mall. Smiles were on all of their faces, as they seemed full of glee on this day. Flashes from cameras were brighter than the sun's rays, and the endless screaming and chatter of fans could be heard all the way at the White House. But Gem was not a cheering fan, but rather, a listener and an observer. She watched the talking between the mentors and the sidekicks, the gestures of pride, and the squeals of excitement...mainly coming from Kidflash. But one thing caught her eye and ear specifically, when Speedy made an outburst against the word 'sidekick'. But that was what he was, wasn't it? They were only sidekicks to the big time heroes, because they were just too young to be in the Justice League...well, until today at least.

She watched as the heroes filled into the Hall, and then the spectators followed them inside. Gem also headed inside, where she saw the heroes being let into the secluded library. After the heroes left the main hall, the spectators went to the observation area, while Gem stood against a pillar in the lobby.

She wondered what was going on inside of the library, what the heroes were feeling...and in moments, her thoughts were answered. A very angry and aggravated Speedy was walking out of the library, bow in hand, with no archer's hat on his head. Gem's eyes followed the young hero, with her mind full of curious thoughts.

"Why did you walk out?" she wondered aloud, loud enough to catch his attention. His shoulder's tensed up, as he spun around on his heel and walked over to her.

"They didn't make us part of the League" he said simply, with anger on his face, but disappointment filling up his eyes.

"So was it all a set up?" she asked, as she arched her brow, trying to get more information from the flamed archer.

"Seems that way...I just can't believe that I took this so seriously, when I should know better..." he said, as he looked downward. He then abruptly looked up at Gem, with a glare on his face. "Why am I telling you this anyway?" he asked, with irritation in his voice.

Gem made a small smile and narrowed her eyes. "Because I asked you so". The archer's glare subsided, and he became more calm around her. She smiled again, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You can still be a hero without being in the Justice League, Speedy".

Her words echoed inside his head for a moment, before he started to walk away. Gem silently waved goodbye to his back, as she looked upward to the marble statues of the Justice League members, when she heard a call. She turned around to see Speedy, making a small smile towards her "Hey...thank...you" he said, as he then began to walk away, through the swinging doors of the Hall.

Now that Gem knew part of what happened inside the Hall, she wondered even more about the other three heroes inside. If Speedy left the Hall, why didn't they follow him? The images of joy and the smiles flashed in her head from earlier, and she deeply wondered if they were as upset as Speedy was. Then, she heard the noise of doors opening, followed by running steps. She turned and saw the three remaining sidekicks- Robin, Kidflash, and Aqualad- running outside of the hall, with no mentors behind them. Gem tilted her head, and saw as they passed by and were running off through the capital. Now that Batman seemed to be gone, along with the young heroes, Gem decided that it was time for her to focus on her actual plans. She was going back to Cadmus.

After a quick change into her uniform, Gem came to Cadmus, only to see a firetruck and police on the scene, battling a fire from the second floor. Gem wondered how a fire could be generated, but her thoughts became scrambled when she felt the whoosh of air around her, and the cackling from above. It was Kidflash and Robin, both now entering Cadmus through the open window, with Aqualad right behind them, saving two workers from the rooftop, before going through the window after his friends. Gem decided to wait until the firefighters had left the scene, to avoid anyone from seeing her entrance into the building. And since the window was left open, she was glad to know that this time, her getting into Cadmus would be ten times easier.

When nightfall came two hours later, the parking lot was empty, and Gem started to make her way inside Cadmus. Using the grappling gun, she glided upward and inside the building through the open window, landing once again in the office room. Files and folders cluttered the room, with somebody obliviously previously going through them. Gem's guess was that the sidekicks had been doing some investigation of Cadmus themselves. As she walked out of the office room, she heard the beeping noise coming from the elevator, with the doors slowly opening.

Inside, was a figure with demonic-looking horns coming from out of his skull, wearing a lab coat, with a small animal perched on his shoulder. Gem's eyes widened as she recognized the animal as a genomorph, from the files she had accessed three months earlier. The g-nome's eyes glowed red, and the figure ushered her to come inside the elevator.

Gem suddenly felt hypnotized, as she lost control of her body, walking towards the elevator. When she got inside, the doors closed, and she was face to face with the mysterious creature. His hands touched her temples, and his eyes glowed red, as Gem felt herself losing control again, as her eyes began to flutter and then shut.

Inside of her mind, there was waves of images floating around. First was of Aqualad also seeing the creature in the elevator, followed by the creature alerting a scientist about intruders, and lastly, the creature was shown trying to telekineticly throw barrels at the sidekicks, and warning a hoard of g-nomes about the sidekicks heading for Project Kr. And with that warning, finally came the image of what Gem needed. Inside of a test tube, was a boy in a white suit, with a red "S" on his chest, seemingly to be asleep. On the glass front of the test tube read the symbol "Kr".

More images then flashed by, of how the sidekicks had infiltrated and sealed themselves inside Project Kr, and how Project Kr himself, unsealed the room, revealing the unconscious sidekicks.

Gem then finally was able to open her eyes, as she stared at the creature. "My name is Double-X" he said calmly, as Gem slowly nodded. She then looked up and saw that they were heading downward, and that they had almost reached level forty-five. Gem looked back at Double-X, "What do you want me to do?" she asked, as she watched as the numbers went higher, and how they were now at level thirty-nine. Double-X blinked a few times, before he allowed the tiny g-nome to hop onto Gem's shoulder, whereupon it's eyes glowed red. Gem then felt herself blankly staring back at Double-X, before she found herself saying, "I must tell them the way".


	3. Cadmus' Downfall

Washington D.C

July 4 22:00 EDT

When Gem and Double-X reached level forty-five, the doors opened, and Gem ran out first, with the little g-nome still perched on her shoulder. As she gained speed, the g-nome had to dig it's claws into her shoulder just to hang on. Gem hissed with minor pain, as she could smell the blood trickling down her arm, but she ignored the pain, and focused on reaching the sidekicks. As she was running, she closed her eyes, and the g-nome's eyes flashed red. She was sending a telepathic message to the heroes.

"Time is running short, you have to wake up, NOW!" she yelled in her mind, as she slowly opened her eyes and then ran behind a wall. She then stayed in the shadows as she saw Double-X and two more people in lab coats walk towards the containment room, as the doors then shut. When she looked around the corner, she saw a massive group of g-trolls waiting in the hall. Gem gulped, as she looked down to her g-nome, who just looked back at her with it's red eyes.

Soon, Gem heard the door open again, and she saw Project Kr walking out of the lab, with a g-nome also on his shoulder. Gem then suddenly felt a rush of pain to her head, as the g-nome's eyes turned red again. She was receiving a message from Aqualad, who was trying to address somebody named 'Superboy'. Gem then figured out that Superboy must be the heroes' name for Project Kr, as she listened in on Aqualad's plea.

"Superboy...You live. That gives you the right to follow your own path...a weapon...or a person...the choice is yours, but ask yourself...what would Superman do?". Gem turned the corner again and saw Superboy stopped in his tracks, staring down and pondering Aqualad's message. She then saw his eyebrows flare as he threw the g-nome on the ground, and started to run back towards the lab. Gem smiled, as she then received another telepathic message, this time from Double-X.

"Good, now lead them two the exit, they are going to need it". Gem nodded and ran towards the elevator, with the g-trolls ignoring her the entire way. Gem wondered if it was the g-nome on her shoulder that was making them to not see her as a target...or an intruder. As she hit the up button, she could hear the roar of the g-trolls behind her, and knew that it must mean the sidekicks were approaching. She growled and then ran down another hallway, as she tried to hide from the sidekicks.

The elevator door was opened manualy, as the heroes escaped inside the shaft. The doors then closed, and Gem could hear the sound of the elevator coming down to the level. She could only hope that the heroes had gotten out of the shaft, or risk becoming roadkill. But then the doors opened, and to her doubts, the heroes were not inside, nor was their blood scattered along the door. A scientist and Guardian went inside the elevator, while Double-X stood by the g-trolls. Gem then came out from the shadows, where Double-X locked eyes with her again.

"Now we must help them some more..." he said, as he handed her a map of the entire compound.

"Relay the instructions to Superboy, tell him to head for this air vent" he said, as his finger pointed to the image on the map. Gem nodded, as she closed her eyes and tried to connect with Superboy.

"Turn left" she uttered, with Double-X outlining the trail on the map while she continued to transmission the message. "Now turn right!" she uttered again, and double-X then touched her hand, allowing her eyes to open again. The g-nome then hopped off her shoulder, and onto Double-X's shoulder. Gem hissed as she felt the once digging claws on her shoulder, now starting to stop bleeding and scar over. The elevator doors then opened again, as Double-X entered, ushering Gem to join him. She nodded, and walked inside, this time with her own will.

As the doors closed, and she saw that they were going upward, when Double-X hit the stop key and ran out. Gem was left alone as the doors closed, as she then saw Double-X re-joining up with the scientist and Guardian. The elevator continued it's climb upward, as Gem slumped against the wall. The numbers were still decreasing, but had now entered single digits. When it reached level three, the doors opened, revealing a red-hued hallway. Gem exited, and as she turned a corner, she found an army of g-trolls and g-nomes, surrounding the heroes. She then saw Guardian standing in front of them, with a g-nome perched on his shoulder, leaving him in a blank stare.

Double-X then appeared from the shadows, as he made the g-trolls part along the hallway so Gem could join him. She walked forward, feeling the eyes of the g-trolls follow her every move. When she reached Double-X's side, the g-nome perched itself on her shoulder again, as Double-X and Gem started communicating telepathically, and in-sync, with Superboy.

"Perhaps for the sake of all genomorphs, our brother, Superboy should make up his own mind." Gem then watched as Superboy awoke from unconsciousness, immediately glaring at Gem and Double-X.

"It was both of you?"

"Yes, brother. I set the fire and lured your new friends down into Cadmus" Double-X said, before he shifted and turned to Gem, who continued, "Then I woke them when they were in danger..." and then Superboy finished after realizing the plan, "And then you guided me...but why?" he asked, with a confused expression on his face.

The g-nome on Gem's shoulder then hopped off again, as she blinked her eyes a few times and looked down at Superboy. Double-X then continued, "Because you are our hope, the genomorph hero! You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom". Then, the g-nome on Guardian's shoulder also hopped off, allowing the hero to try and regain his memory on the past events. The other sidekicks then awoke from unconsciousness, staring at Superboy, Double-X, and Gem in the center of the room. Superboy stood up, and walked closer towards the pair.

"What is your choice, brother?" Double-X asked, as Superboy looked down and pondered his thoughts. Gem searched his face for any idea or expression, but could find nothing. Superboy then looked upward, with a strong expression on his face, and proclaimed, "I...Choose...Freedom!".

Double-X smiled, as his horns stopped glowing red, and Guardian then began to fully adjust to the situation. The other heroes also stood up, and Aqualad gestured to Guardian. Meanwhile, the other three heroes stared at Gem, who only looked back at them with a blank expression.

"Go!" Guardian proclaimed, as he turned to the g-trolls surrounding them. "I'll deal with Desmond" he said, before the g-trolls behind him parted, revealing who Gem realized was Doctor Desmond, holding a blue vile in his hands, with a menacing look on his face.

"I think not, Guardian!" he said, causing everyone to turn and look towards the ravaged doctor. He looked towards Gem standing by Double-X, and sneered.

"So it seems you lured yet another hero here, Double-X" he said, causing Gem to stand in front of Double-X, as a sign of protection.

"I came here by myself, Desmond" she said in a serious tone, as she placed one of her hands on her hip. Desmond glared and then held up the vile, and continued, "Project Blockbuster should give me the power to restore order to Cadmus!" he said, as the swallowed the liquid from the vile, surging through his veins from down his throat, as his hands began to twist, his glasses fell off, and he began to cringe.

Gem then joined the side by the young heroes, with Guardian now standing in front of them, for protection. Everyone had surprised expressions as they saw Desmond transform into a monster. When he was complete, he looked right towards the heroes with a sly smile on his face, surrounded by the pealing skin of his once human flesh.

Guardian put his hands up, yelling, "Everyone, get back!" as he charged against the monster. But he was easily knocked aside by Desmond with one hit, sending him flying backwards. Superboy then charged towards the monster, delivering a punch towards his face, before getting punched himself. He was then sent backwards flying, hitting his head hard on the floor. He then stood up again quickly, jumping upward to charge at Desmond again.

But out of the corner of her eye, Gem saw that Desmond was going to plunge through the ceiling, as she then ran and jumped, pushing Superboy out of the way, causing her to be hit and throw upward by the force of Desmond. the four heroes below stared upward at the large hole in the ceiling, with Robin then tilting his head and going, "Well, that's one way to break through the ceiling!" as he and Kidflash were hoisted up to the first floor of the building. Aqualad and Superboy then followed, as they came up to the floor.

They saw Gem, against a wall, clutching her stomach in pain, with a giant crack in the wall behind her. Kidflash and Robin ran over imediantly, while Superboy and Aqualad fought off the monster.

"Are you okay?" Robin inquired, as Gem flashed him a relived smile. She lifted up the bottom of her shirt, revealing her chest full of literally, rock-hard abs, that were made od diamond. "My skin can become any kind of rock, or in this case, gem, therefore protecting me from Desmond".

Robin then made a relieved smile, as Kidflash helped her up to her feet. "Do you have a name?" he asked, as they began to get in a fighting stance. She laughed and turned towards each of them.

"The name is Gem". They then broke out running towards the monster, each firing their own wave of attacks. Gem turned her entire arm into diamond, delivering a strong punch to the chest of the monster, before doing a flip and landing on her feet, as she ducked out of the way for Aqualad to try and attack him. She then ran to Superboy, as she made her entire body turn into a diamond.

"Quick, try throwing me at Desmond!" she yelled, as Superboy picked her up at her heels and held her like a baseball bat, before he started running towards Desmond, delivering a blow to his shoulder. But as each attack commenced, they saw that none of them were working to actually take down the monster. Robin then scanned the room, and opened up a halogram, discovering a way to take down the monster.

"Guys, take down the columns!" he yelled, as Superboy kept on fighting the monster to distract them from their plan. Then after destroying a column, Gem took Superboy's place in distracting Desmond. Kidflash soon joined her, as the ran around the lobby, trying to avoid the stone cold punches from the monster. Robin meanwhile drew a letter "X" on the floor with chalk, while Aqualad depostied a giant puddle of water on the X. Kidflash and Gem then lured Desmond towards the X, and then Superboy delivered a thunderous punch, sending him crashing into the puddle, whereupon Aqualad electrified it, shocking the monster.

Robin then laced the remaining collumns with bombs, as he yelled at the rest of the teens to move. The bombs exploaded, causing the roof to start and cave in on them, with a huge slab on cinderclock landing on Desmond. Cracks of the night sky became visable, as bigger chunks of rock began to sink and fall to the ground.

Gem adjusted her skin to become diamond again, while Superboy and Aqualad covered Robin and Kidflash from the rubble. In seconds, Cadmus' building was no more, and laid in ruin. Superboy and Aqualad pushed off the rubble, revealing their clothing full of rips and tears, and some stains of blood.

They then gazed around for Gem, who seconds later, emerged from another pile of rubble, nodding to the team that she was alright. As they catched their breath, Aqualad looked to his teamates, "We...did it!" he proclaimed, as Robin and Kidflash high-fived each other, before cringing in pain. Gem walked over to Superboy and smiled, as they both looked down at the defeated Desmond, lying under a massive amount of rubble.

Kidflash then motioned towards the sky, pointing at the moon, which caught Superboy's glare, as well as the rest of the team's. And as they stared at the moon, a tiny dot began to form. Superboy squinted his eyes as the dot became a figure, revealing itself as Superman. And behind Superman, came the rest of the Justice League, slowly landing at the once site of Cadmus, and looking down upon the young heroes.

"Shit!" Gem cursed under her breath, knowing that she was going to receive a visit from Batman shortly after this event. All eyes then turned to Superboy, who revealed the red "S" on his shirt, prompting a shocked face from Superman. They then glared at each other, as Superboy then proclaimed, "I'm Superman's Clone!" which also received more shocked expressions from various members of the League.

Batman the turned his eyes to Gem, who was holding her arm, looking downward to avoid his gaze. "We need to talk, now".


	4. Team Formation

Washington D.C

July 5 3:00 EDT

Gem was now back where she had started the previous morning. She was sitting in one of the lounge chairs in the Hall of Justice, where she was being interrogated by Batman.

"You broke onto private property again, Gem" he began, as Gem rolled her eyes and placed her heels on the desk.

"The window was open, your little heroes went inside, and I followed suite" she said calmly, as she looked at her nails in front of her. Batman sighed, pushed her feet off the desk, and slammed her hand down on the table. Gem looked up at him, pouting, before she placed her hands on her lap and her feet firmly on the carpet.

Batman continued, "So, you already knew about the clone?" he asked, in an irritated tone. Gem flashed back to three months ago when she told Batman she only knew about Cadmus' energy consumption. She rolled her eyes and sighed, "His name is Superboy, and yes, I knew" she said, as Batman retaliated.

"Why didn't you tell me about Superboy?" he asked, as Gem sighed, "I wanted to investigate it through, it would have been useless to tell you then, because the project had just begun. What if there had been a failure, and the clone did not develop?" she said, with sarcasm and common sense laced in her voice. Batman scolded, then continued with his questions.

"And as for why you returned to Cadmus, it was because you wanted to see the progress of the clone, correct?". "Yes, I came to see the progress, to see if the embryo made it through development, which it did". There was then a moment of silence, before Batman spoke again.

"Despite your many mistakes and decieving, your skills have impressed the League...And we would like you to join a team we're making". Gem's eyebrow went up, as she crossed her arms along her chest. She could not honestly tell if Batman was trying to trick her or he was being serious about recruiting her.

"A team, you say..." she thought aloud, before standing up from her seat as she walked towards Batman. "But you heard me before, I don't take orders" she said, as she was now standing over his shoulder. Batman stood up, and looked down at the young hero, with a glare on his face.

"But you did take orders from a genomorph". Gem stood dumbfounded, as Batman walked towards the exit.

"Come back here on the eigthth, I will take you to the Cave". And with that, Batman left the library, leaving Gem alone. She put her hand to her forehead, trying to absorb all of the events from that night. She then made a small smile, as she also walked to the exit.

"A Team could be fun..." she said, as the mechanical doors closed behind her, and she walked out of the Hall.

Mount Justice

July 8 8:04 EDT

After thinking about Batman's offer, Gem did return to the Hall of Justice three days later. She was dressed in civilian wear, wearing a black top with glitter on the upper half, along with a pair of black skinny jeans and black ankle boots. Gem felt like she always needed to have some sort of glitter or sparkle with her daily wear. When she entered the hall, she was also surprised to see the other young heroes there, also dressed in civilian wear. Gem walked towards the group, with a small smile, before standing beside Superboy. Batman looked to her and nodded, before he began to activate the teleporter.

When the arrived at the Cave, there were already other League members there, working on the inner workings of the cave. They all entered the main room, while Batman cleared his throat and began to speak.

"This cave was the original secret sanctum of the Justice League...We're calling it into service again, since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight...but you will do it on the League's terms". The team nodded in unicen, as Batman continued, gesturing to his right.

"Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, Black Canary is in charge of training, and I, will deploy you on missions". Gem noticed that Robin raised his eyebrow at this statement, showing his oblivious signs of doubt. He then spoke up to Batman, "Real missions?". The entire team turned their eyes to Batman, awaiting his response.

"Yes, but covert" he said, as the team nodded again. The Flash then stepped into the conversation, "The League will still handle the big stuff, hence these targets on our chests" he said, pointing to his symbol on his uniform. Then attention then turned to Aquaman, who spoke next.

"But Cadmus has proved that the bad guys are getting smarter, and Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly" he said, as he turned to Batman.

"The six of you, will be that team" he said, as the team nodded, turning to each other with smiles on their faces. "Cool! Wait...six?" Robin wondered, as he glanced around the room, and then looked at Batman. Gem counted the number of teens in the room, before raising her eyebrow and looking at Batman, "Yeah Bats, I'm only counting five teens here, where's this supposed number six?" she asked aloud, with sarcasm in her voice. Batman folded his arms, and then motioned behind the group.

"Right behind you, Gem". The team then turned around, where out from the shadows, appeared two green martians. "This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian" he ushered, as Miss Martian took a step forward to the team, as she began to wave.

"Hi everyone.." she said with a shy, but friendly smile. Gem looked over to Kidflash, who was making heavy eye contact with Robin, before he muttered, "I'm liking this gig more already!". Gem then elbowed him in the ribs, disgusted with his comment. "OW!" Kidflash shrieked, before rubbing his ribcage and giving a glare towards Gem. She pointed her finger directly at him, "She's our teammate, not some piece of meat, KF". Gem then turned around and faced Miss Martian, hoping she had not seen that little stunt.

Kidflash then also turned to face Miss Martian, with open arms, as he said, "Anyway, welcome aboard! I'm Kidflash, that's Robin, Aqualad, it's totally cool if you forget their names though". Gem then glared at Kidflash again, as she put her hands on her hips.

"Uh hello? Earth to KF?" she said, as she arched her eyebrow, with her eyes moving from her to Superboy. Wally hit his forehead, remembering the other two in the room. "Oh yeah, and those two are Superboy and Gem" he said, ushering towards them. Gem began to walk over to the others, as the flashed Kidflash a smile and said "Thank you". Miss Martian clasped her hands together, with a much bigger smile on her face as the teens walked over to her.

"I am so honored to be included here" she said, as Gem placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's great tp have another girl on the team, Welcome, Miss M!" she proclaimed, as the two girls smiled at each other.

Superboy meanwhile, remained still in his spot, looking downward. Robin noticed this, and called out to him, "Hey Superboy! Come meet Miss M!". Superboy then looked to Robin and smiled, as he walked over to Miss Martian. In seconds, her shirt became black with a red X across.

"I like your t-shirt..." Miss Martian said, as a small blush formed on her green cheeks. Superboy looked at her shirt and then his own, and smiled, before Robin elbowed him in the shoulder and Kidflash ran up behind him, all three flashing smiles. Gem stood in awe, gazing at Miss Martian's trick, "That is so cool, I wish I could do that!" she said. Aqualad then looked across the room at the team, all full of smiles and determination, as Robin looked up to him. He nodded, and then said, "Today...is the day".

After the mentors finished preparing the cave and left for the Watchtower, the new team was left alone in the main room of the cave. Gem floated towards Miss Martian, still fasinated with her trick from earlier. "So, how old are you?" she asked, as Miss Martian looked downward, and then up with a smile.

"Oh I'm sixteen..." she said, seemingly leaving off something with her tone of voice. Gem studied this for a moment, before shrugging it off. There was another moment of silence, before Miss Martian asked the entire group, "So...what did you guys do on the 4th of July?".

The team exchanged glances with each other before smiling, as the told Miss Martian their story. But as the boys finished, Miss Martian turned to Gem, curious, "But how did you get involved, exactly?".

Gem shrugged her shoulders, and told her part of the story to the group for the first time. When she came to the part that she had known about Superboy since her encounter with Batman, the team's eyes widened. Superboy looked towards her with a confused glance, to which she just gave him a shy smile.

She then looked down at the floor, and let out a small laugh. "What is it?" Kidflash asked, as he looked at the floor for anything. Gem placed her hand on his shoulder, grinning, "It's not the floor, silly," she said, as she looked around at everyone in the group, waiting for her to speak. She smiled again, "I guess it was just destiny that brought our stories together..." she said, as the team returned her smile with smiles of their own, followed by an eruption of laughter.

Gem turned to Superboy, who was smiling, as he gave her a silent nod. Gem nodded back, and the group then made plans to come back to the cave a few days later, to hopefully be deployed on their first mission, or at least, a chance to talk again.

As Gem entered the teleporter back home, she looked back at the team, and smiled.


End file.
